3 PDEA officers held in P9.18 million drug bust

MANILA, Philippines — An official of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and two PDEA agents were apprehended during a sting that yielded shabu valued at P9.18 million in Taguig on Tuesday night.

Arrested were Enrique Lucero, who heads the PDEA Southern District Office, as well as anti-narcotics agents Anthony Vic Alabastro and Jaireh Llaguno.

Their driver, Mark Warren Mallo, was also nabbed by operatives of the PDEA and National Capital Region Police Office.

Southern Police District director Brig. Gen. Kirby John Kraft said the drug bust was carried out at the suspects’ office along A. Bonifacio street in Barangay Upper Bicutan at around 9 p.m.

The anti-narcotics operation stemmed from information that the PDEA operatives were allegedly selling illegal drugs, Kraft said.

The suspects allegedly negotiated a deal with police officers, who posed as buyers, for P100,000 worth of shabu.

“This is proof that we do not tolerate the wrongdoing of our police officers,” Kraft said in an interview on Teleradyo.

Police said they recovered from the suspects around 1.35 kilos of shabu, a .40-caliber handgun, four long firearms and a digital weighing scale.

Three other agents who were at the PDEA office were not arrested as they did not take part in the drug transaction, according to Kraft.

PDEA director general Moro Virgilio Lazo, who was present during the operation, was dismayed over the action of the suspects.

He said the suspects would not receive special treatment from the PDEA.

“Mananagot sila kung ganun ang pupuntahan nung investigation,” Lazo told reporters.

Complaints for violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act are being readied against Lucero and the other suspects. – Ralph Edwin Villanueva